Folding crate.



A. C. THGMPSON.

FOLDING CRATE- APPLlCATlON FILED MAR. 12. 1915.

, Patented July 4, 1916.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2 foo ALONZO C. THOMPSON, OF MOUNT UNION, PENNSYLVANIA.

FOLDING CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed March 12, 1915. Serial No. 13,930.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALoNzo C. THOMP- SON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mount Union, in the county ofHuntingdon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Folding Crates; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to folding crates, and one of the principalobjects of this invention is to provide simple and substantial means forhinging the parts of the crate so that it may be folded within a smallcompass for return shipment.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a hinge of novelconstruction for folding crates, said hinge being formed of a continuouspiece of sheet metal bent into form and having a continuous pintleextending through all the bent members of the hinge.

The foregoing and other objects may be attained by means of theconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure1 is a perspective view of a folding crate made in accordance with thisinvention, Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary elevation of a hinge forfolding crates made in accordance with this invention, Fig. 3 is adetail perspective view of a modified form of this invention showing acrate having the parts hinged together in accordance with thisinvention. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a modified form of the crate inthe process of being folded for reshipment. Fig. 5 is a centrallongitudinal section through a crate and showing the sliding door forthe same made in accordance with this invention, and Fig. 6 is' atransverse sectional view of a modified form of the crate made inaccordance with this invention and having a folding bottom hinged to oneside of the crate.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the top longitudinalbars of the crate and 2 are the bottom longitudinal bars.

As shown there are four top bars and four bottom bars, and they arepreferably formed of suitable wood or metal, and extending through thetwo central bars and into the two side bars are wires 3, and as shown inFig. 1 the side members comprise each a rectangular frame 4: havingvertical wire slats 5, said sides being hinged at 6 to the side bottombars 2 to fold inwardly against the bottom. For holding the sides inupright position, U-shaped keepers 7 are pivoted in staples 8 on theside top bars 1 to turn down and inclose the upper longitudinal bars ofthese sides.

The ends of the crate are made up of vertical bars 9 connected to theends of the bottom bars 2 by mortise and tenon hinges 10, and shortsections 11 are connected to the upper end of the bars 9 by mortise andtenon hinges 12. The hinges 10 and 12 are each provided with acontinuous wire pintle 13 and 1A extending through the bars and throughthe tenons. The upper ends of the short sections 11- are also providedwith similar hinges 15. At the opposite end of thecrate the end consistsof the bars 16 hinged at their upper ends to the rod or wire 17 and attheir lower ends the members 16 are connected to the bottom longitudinalbars 2 by means of a continuous strip of metal folded together toprovide leaves 18 and extending into a slot or recess in the ends of thebars 16 and connected by means of a wire or rod 19 to form a hinge. Thecontinuous strip of metal is bent together as described and extendedacross as at 20 from one bar 2 to the other. For holding theportions ofthe strip 20 in place, bars 21 are secured by suitable fasteningsthrough the strip 20 to the longitudinal bars 2.

In the top of the crate is a door comprismg slde members 22, a cross barand handle member 23 and extending from its ends 24: having projectingportions 25 which extend underneath one of the cross wires 3. The dooris adapted to slide on the wire 3*, and to swing on said wire as ahinge. The opposite ends of the door frame are provided with reducedprojecting portions 26 which engage the cross wire 3 when slid under thesame, and a spring catch 27 holds the door closed. In order to open thedoor the handle 23 is grasped and the door is slid backward until theends 26 are out of alinement with wire 3", when the door can be swung onthe pivot wire 3. The bottom or floor 28 is secured to the longitudinalbars 2. As shown in Fig. 5, this crate may be folded by swinging thekeepers 7 into alinement with the longitudinal bars 1, and folding thesides inward when the top may be folded relatively to the bottom tooccupy but little space as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 of the draW- ings, it will be seen that acrate designed more particularly for containing apples, potatoes, orsimilar produce may be formed by means of longitudinal bars a and endbars 5, said bars being connectedtogether at one corner by mortise andtenon hinges connected by a. pintle rod 0, while at the opposite side ofeach of the ends are the metal hinge devices previously described,formed by means of a metal plate bent upon itself at (Z and extendinginto a slot in the ends of the bars Z2 and provided with a pintle c.This kind of a. crate may be provided with a bottom 7 hinged at g andfolded inwardly against one of the sides of the crate, said bottom beingprovided with cross cleats it. The sheet metal continuous hinge at thebase portion may extend into slots in the ends of the bars a as shown ati in Fig. 4. This crate may be readily folded by throwing the bottom fup against one side and then folding the side bars and end bars as shownin Fig. 4 to occupy but little space.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theclaims.

l/Vhat is claimed is 1. A folding crate having sides hinged to foldinwardly, a bottom member, a top mem her, and end members hinged to thetop and bottom members, one of said hinges being formed of a continuousstrip of metal bent upon itself and extending into slots in the adjacentvertical end member and provided with a. continuous rod extendingthrough said slots and hinge, the continuous strip being connected tothe bottom of the crate.

2. A folding crate made up of longitudinal bars and vertical barsconnected by wire rods, the bottom being provided at one end with acontinuous sheet metal hinge, bent upon itself to form a plurality ofhinge members, said hinge members and the vertical members of theadjacent end being connected by means of a pintle rod, and the platecontinued across the bottom of the crate and secured thereto.

3. A folding crate comprising hinged sides adapted to be foldedinwardly, top and bottom members, hinged end members, said end membersprovided at one end with sectional vertical bars connected together bymortise and tenon hinges, and the opposite end member being providedwith a continuous metal strip hinge, said strip being bent upon itselfto form a plurality of hinge members mounted in slots in the ends of thevertical bars and connected by means of a continuous pintle rod, saidmetal strip being secured in slots formed in one of the end members ofthe crate.

4. A folding crate comprising hinged sides adapted to be foldedinwardly, top and bottom members, hinged end members, said end membersprovided at one end with sectional vertical bars connected together bymortise and tenon hinges, the opposite end member being provided with acontinuous metal strip hinge, said strip being bent upon itself to forma plurality of hinge members to be mounted in the slots formed in theends of the vertical bars and the end members, a pintle rod extendingthrough the ends of the end members for holding the continuous striptherein, said metal strip being secured to the bottom of the crate.

5. A crate including end members, each provided at one end with slots,other members, means hinging the other ends of said end members to oneof said other members, hinges connecting the slotted ends of said endmembers to the second of said other members, each of said hinges beingformed of a continuous strip of metal secured to said second member andbent to provide a plurality af leaves fitting in said slots, and rodspassing through said end members and said leaves.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALONZO O. THOMPSON.

WVitnesses:

A. M. Masnimnn, Mrs. A. C. THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commisxloner of intents, Walhington, D. 9.

